


it’s a wild and beautiful fire (that’s got to be my once upon a time)

by OsleyaKomWonkru



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Dragon Octavia, Explicit Consent, F/M, First Time, Freedom, Gen, Justice, Reconciliation, Semi-Public Sex, Sex Talk, Soulmates, reparations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:40:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29218884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OsleyaKomWonkru/pseuds/OsleyaKomWonkru
Summary: Once upon a time, in the vassal state of Arkadia, Queen Aurora and Crown Prince Bellamy called upon the darkest of magics to aid in their quest to declare independence from the kingdom of Gosci.But all magic comes with a price, and they paid for it dearly, none more than Princess Octavia, whose transformation into the wildest of firebreathing beasts would be bearable - if it weren’t for the terror her brother brought down upon the world in her name in a mad quest to free her from her curse.Eight years later, Aurora is dead, Octavia has fled, and now-King Bellamy conquers village after village of the free folk in his mission to find the sorceress who cast the curse.He won’t find her. She is not one of them. But in the shadow of Mount Weather, which looms high over the villages of the free folk, Octavia has a chance encounter with a man whose love will change their destinies forever - and those of both of their people.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake & Octavia Blake, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Emori/John Murphy (The 100), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	it’s a wild and beautiful fire (that’s got to be my once upon a time)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [munequita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/munequita/gifts).



> So this is the first time in my fanfic writing career that I've written something not set in the canon universe of a show, which has been a new challenge! Like many fics I'm publishing these days, it is for [The 100 Writers for Black Lives Matter Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.carrd.co), with a prompt of Octavia being a dragon and her soulmate Lincoln saving her from that fate.
> 
> As my stories tend to do, this all got away from me pretty quick, and a lot more plot happened in the process of worldbuilding. So along with the dragons, soulmates and sex, we've got some taking back of a kingdom and seeing justice done :D More chapters will be posted later when I have a chance to get to them, or you can prompt them sooner via the BLM Initiative link above.

The rain soaked Lincoln’s skin as he fled through the forest, separated from his hunting party, now with wolves on his tail. If he hadn’t been alone, if the others had still been there, perhaps it would have been different, several people could have distracted a pack of wolves enough for everyone to escape with their flesh intact.

But alone against a pack? Lincoln stood no chance. They knew that, he knew that. His only hope would rest in climbing a tree, but in this part of the forest, none grew with branches so close to the ground, and the rain made the trunks too slippery to scale on their own.

He spotted a wolf not far off on his left flank, and he got the impression that the wolves were herding him in a specific direction, pinning him in such that they would have an easy kill, but -

No. He recognized where he was. The wolves were playing with him.

To see if he’d give up, or if he’d risk the rumours of a fate worse than death…

How would the wolves know that?

Perhaps the wolves had stories of their own. Stories of the beast that was rumoured to live in the cave on the side of the mountain - a mountain Lincoln’s people called Mount Weather, because it foretold the weather that the villages in the lowlands could expect, hours and sometimes days ahead of time. Dark clouds on its mountaintop meant that the storms would come, the clouds they’d seen the previous day, but their village had no more meat, and King Bellamy’s harsh taxes had exacted what little grain and vegetables the peasants still had left. There was nothing left to do but hunt and forage, as dangerous as it could be in this forest, part of the King’s Woods, where poaching would be harshly punished.

Like as not, these wolves were here on the King’s orders. Watchdogs rather than wild beasts.

But there was a fate worse than the wolves… or was there?

Lincoln had never known anyone who had gone into the cave. Stories of the beast that lived within, the fire she breathed, the sharpness of her claws… a she-dragon more fearsome than his people had seen in centuries.

He was out of options. He could see the entrance of the cave up ahead, and the wolves were mere metres away, snapping at his heels, and he had to make a choice, praying that the wolves wouldn’t follow.

Lincoln plunged into the darkness.

* * *

The rains made her wings slippery, and she didn’t like it.

Octavia circled the valley on the far side of the mountain once more, a daily ritual, in the vain hope that her talons or her fire could do something to remove the invisible barrier that kept her trapped in this cursed kingdom.

As always, there was no hope to be found. She was bound to this kingdom, its curse made physical, the one whose life was forfeit so the others could live in peace and plenty.

At least, that had been the bargain, when their kingdom was under attack. Now that the enemies beyond their borders were quelled by the magical protection that Arkadia possessed, her brother had gone mad in search for a cure for her condition.

A search she’d never asked for. A madness she’d never wanted.

Octavia could have lived with her condition, with her curse, if her brother hadn’t thrown everything they’d fought for away in pursuit of fixing it.

There was no fixing it. While the larger and richer kingdom of Gosci to the west had stopped its incursions on their territory - in large part due to the power she possessed - that didn’t stop her brother from expanding the kingdom to the east, raiding and capturing one village of free folk after another, convinced that the magical secrets he needed were hiding in one of them.

This was not the _peace_ that she had sacrificed her mortal life for, and that knowledge weighed on her every day. It was why she’d fled into the wilderness, refusing to be a pawn, refusing to endorse the way he looked at her, hoping that if she wasn’t there that he’d stop and make peace again. But it had been a futile hope. Now deep in the territory of the free folk, people who didn’t know the story of who she was and how she’d become _what_ she was… they feared her, and they stayed away.

She’d gotten used to the solitude over the years.

Which was why it was a shock when, as she dove back through the sky entrance to her caves, that she smelled the scent of _human_ within them.

Landing lightly on her feet - as lightly as she could, given the size of her dragon body - she looked around the cavernous space, trying to find the human who had been so brave to venture into _her_ territory.

She saw him, up ahead, a young man drenched by the rain, holding his furs close around him as he looked around in wonder - for while humans and most animals avoided this cave, the walls of the inner cavern were currently resplendent with many hundreds of iridescent blue butterflies, taking shelter from the hard rain that would harm them out in the open.

He hadn’t spotted her yet, and so she settled into a more comfortable position, awaiting his gaze, wondering what he would do - would he flee back into the forest? But her sharp ears caught the sound of a howl over the storm, and she knew that wasn’t going to be an option. There were wolves out there.

Her brother’s wolves.

Octavia had to protect this man.

His eyes widened in fear when he finally spotted her, but he made no move to flee back outside. She stayed as still as she could, only moving her head to look at him directly, so that he would know that she acknowledged his presence, that she knew he was there. She nodded, once, and hoped that would encourage him to come closer.

Even if she couldn’t speak anymore, she still longed to hear the human tongue, to remind herself that she did still have a human soul and a human memory if nothing else.

* * *

Lincoln froze as the beast spotted him. But she didn’t attack, no, she looked like she was sitting comfortably, not in a position of attack at all.

Then she nodded at him.

Was she - was she asking for him to _approach?_ Was that it? He didn’t know if it was a good idea or not, but he could still hear the wolves pacing around outside, and he didn’t want to anger the beast, lest she roast him, so warily, he approached.

As he stepped closer, slowly, she extended one leg in front of herself - not too far, and not raised, rather she was scratching something into the dirt with one talon.

As he got closer, he could read it.

_My name is Octavia._

A very human name for a dragon, he thought, but he didn’t know her story. Perhaps she had been human, once?

“Octavia.” He said out loud. “I’m Lincoln.”

Her tail wiped the dirt smooth again, and she scratched another word into the ground.

_Wolves?_

“Yes, wolves were chasing me. I’m sorry to intrude, but - but there was nowhere else to hide.”

She nodded in understanding, scratching another message.

_Come get warm._

She lifted a massive wing, and Lincoln approached warily, keeping an eye on her talons and the position of her head, just in case. But she didn’t attack, merely guided him into a position by her side, which exuded warmth despite her scales, and she wrapped her dark green wing over his shoulders, a blanket that infused even more warmth into his chilled skin.

“Thank you.” Lincoln said. “I suppose the wolves are afraid of you?”

She made a noise that sounded like a chuckle, and for the first time Lincoln saw a tiny burst of flame come out of her nose - thankfully nowhere close to him.

_The wolves answer to a master._

“The King.” Lincoln said. “They’re the King’s watchdogs, aren’t they?”

Octavia nodded her head. 

_I’ll keep you safe from him._

“Everyone’s heard the stories.” Lincoln said. “The reasons why the King was able to conquer village after village of my people. No arrow can touch him. But your flame can?”

_No._

“Then how can you protect me?”

_The King can’t harm me either._

Lincoln puzzled over this, pondering whether dragons had some sort of natural invulnerability, or if this was somehow tied into the King’s powers. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Octavia was faster, writing her next message.

_Rest now. I’ll keep watch for him._

The conversation was clearly over for now, and Lincoln made himself comfortable in a seated position, up against her side, feeling her steady breathing as she settled down to rest as well, but eyes watchful, looking to the entrance of the cave. If he focused, he could see the shadows of the wolves pacing outside the entrance.

But her command had been for him to rest, perhaps a hint that trouble was coming? Was the King coming _here?_ He needed to be ready, for whatever could transpire, so he took her instruction and rested, closing his eyes.

* * *

Lincoln didn’t know how much time had passed when he was startled awake by the frantic flap of her wing. He rubbed his eyes, and slowly became aware of the sound of human voices outside the cave. He looked to where Octavia wrote on the ground and saw her message.

_Around to my other side. Quickly._

Lincoln obeyed, not wanting to know if the voices belonged to the King and his men, and he darted around her, and she pulled him close to her side there with her wing, it providing an extra measure of concealment.

He noticed all of the butterflies were gone. Apparently they didn’t like the sound of those people either.

The voices outside began to enter the cave, and Lincoln could feel Octavia’s heart begin to race, though he couldn’t guess as to the reason. Was it fear? Anticipation? Something completely different? He could only listen and wait.

As the voices entered the main cavern, Lincoln felt a warning rumble course through Octavia’s body, and knew she must have released a gust of flame over the heads of the intruders.

“You know you can’t hurt me, O.” Came a man’s voice.

Another rumble.

“Real mature. Quit messing around. My wolves were patrolling here, I know there’s a poacher in these woods, in this cave. Hand them over to me.”

A pause, where Octavia must have written something for the intruder to read.

“These _are_ my woods. The villages here are full of shamans, healers - people who _will_ bow to my will when they’re pushed far enough into desperation.”

Another pause.

“I’m doing this for you, O. To set you free, you want to be free, don’t you?”

Lincoln furrowed his brow. At the mention of “his woods”, he knew that the speaker had to be the King. But the way he was addressing Octavia was familiar, _familial_ even…

Suddenly the pieces fell into place.

His people didn’t know the full extent of the stories of Arkadia, the kingdom that had once been a vassal state to the more powerful kingdom of Gosci that lay beyond it, but they did know bits and pieces of the story that had given Arkadia its freedom - and the last pieces that Lincoln needed to make sense of them were now in his hands.

The royals of Arkadia had called upon a great magical force to give them protection in the face of their massive rivals, but that protection had come at a price - the sacrifice of the one most pure of heart.

No one in the kingdom, least of all Queen Aurora and her son, Crown Prince Bellamy at the time, who had arranged the deal, expected that sacrifice, the one in all the kingdom with the purest heart, to be the reckless and rebellious Princess Octavia, Bellamy’s younger sister.

Queen Aurora had wasted away in sorrow, the protection vested on the royals and their retinue and their castle by the sorceress holding no power against Aurora’s own wish to die because her daughter was not truly _hers_ anymore.

While the fragments of Arkadian lore known to Lincoln’s people were scant on the specific fate of the princess, they knew that she bore some great curse as payment for the protection of her family and home, and this is what had driven now-King Bellamy to terrorize their lands in search of the sorceress who had given the Arkadians their power, to undo the curse vested upon his sister.

But this was her. This was Princess Octavia - the dragon who was now protecting him in defiance of her brother the King.

The roar she let out - and the accompanying fire show that Lincoln could even see the sparks of from his vantage point - made clear that Octavia did not approve of the methods her brother employed.

But King Bellamy would not be dissuaded. He chuckled. “Men, fan out and look for the intruder. They have to be here somewhere. No way they climbed their way to freedom, and she can’t hurt any of us anyway.”

Octavia’s wing curled further over Lincoln, and he noted how she was shifting the front leg on his side back, practically shoving the joint under his feet with an urgency he wasn’t sure how to interpret.

She huffed - quiet enough that only he could hear it, pressed to her side as he was - and she fluttered her wing against him more insistently, also trying to lift him up with it.

Did she want him to give himself up? Was that her plan? Was she no longer willing to defy her brother?

No, he reasoned. He saw her other feet shift as well, moving into a crouch. Getting ready to rise into the air.

She was going to get them out of there.

Lincoln placed a hand on her wing and squeezed, seeing one of the King’s Guard beginning to make his way around Octavia. There was no time to lose.

He ran up the leg she’d provided for him, leaping onto her back between two of the spikes that ran the length of her spine, clinging onto the one in front of him. He heard the King shout, but Octavia was already rising up into the air, raining fire down on the inside of the cavern.

It might not harm the King or his guards, but it would provide sufficient visual distraction for them to get out of there without having spears or arrows thrown at them.

Lincoln kept his head down as far as he could, ducking down next to the spikes, as Octavia soared through the tunnels overhead, finally coming out into the open air, the storm finally cleared. She circled the mountain a few times, watching to see what was happening on the ground far below, and then landed back on the mountainside, not far from where they had emerged.

He slid off of her back, and walked around to face her.

“Thank you. You saved my life.”

_I’m sorry,_ she scratched into the ground.

“Why are you sorry?” Lincoln was puzzled.

_King Bellamy will surely punish the nearby villages somehow. Your home. Your people._

Oh. He hadn’t thought of that.

“But you can help them?” He ventured. “You can hunt, right? I’m sure you have to eat. Hunt some extra prey and come with me to my village, so we can feed my people. There’s nothing more that - that your brother can take from them.”

_Their lives._

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

_You know who I am._

“I figured it out when the King came. You’re his sister. Princess Octavia.”

_Yes. I hate what he has done in my name._

“I got that impression. And he’s really invulnerable, even to your fire?”

_Yes. So long as I’m cursed, his power remains._

“But he’s trying to find a cure. Which means he would lose that power if he did, no?”

_The invulnerability, yes. But he would still be King._

“He could keep it quiet. Not let anyone know that he’d lost that power.” He looked up, looking her in the eyes. “That couldn’t be good for you.”

_He’d lock me up, keep me out of sight, to preserve that illusion._

“I understand why you fled.”

She nodded, though as she looked over his head she bolted back to her feet, staring off into the distance. Lincoln turned and his heart sank as he saw where she was looking.

Plumes of smoke coming up from within the forest, less than a league from her cave.

His village. The King had already taken his revenge.

_Time to go,_ she wrote. _Get some food along the way, shelter any survivors in my cave._

Lincoln nodded, and got back onto her back.

* * *

Octavia killed five mountain goats on their way along the mountain, and Lincoln pulled rope from his hunting pack to tie them down onto her back, and they flew the rest of the way down the mountain, landing in the smoldering remains of what had been Tondisi.

The fires were out, and on their descent Octavia had seen people scavenging through the remains - _at least her brother hadn’t killed them all_ \- but as she circled overhead and made to land, they fled into the nearby forest.

She could still feel their eyes on her.

Lincoln slipped from her back, and made a circle around her, so that everyone watching could see him.

“You don’t have to be afraid!” Lincoln called out. “She’s here to help. We come bearing food.”

He hauled the goats off of Octavia’s back, placing them on the ground where everyone could see.

_Skin them, then I can roast them,_ Octavia wrote. _You’ll want the skins._

“Is that the beast from the woods?” An old woman asked, the first to step out of the forest. “What’s to say it won’t eat us?”

“She saved my life. She protected me from the King, her own brother. If we help her, we have a chance at saving our people from him.”

“Truly?”

“Yes. Please. Let’s eat. Everyone can take shelter in her cave for the night, and we can talk about the rest in the morning.”

* * *

It surprised Octavia, at first, how many of the people were willing to both eat her kills and come shelter in the cave. But it seemed Lincoln was persuasive, and his words carried some weight in his community, because most of the survivors joined them.

She lit up fires for all of the survivors in the cavern, making the space much warmer than most of their wet wooden homes would have been on a night like this, had Bellamy spared them. This must have occurred to at least some of them, as they came by to thank her.

Despite being reunited with his people, Lincoln didn’t leave her side. It seemed like he was trying to protect her in his own way, but she felt that it went deeper than that, as everyone began to settle down for the night, and she curled up in the entryway to keep guard, Lincoln still ever present by her side.

After some minutes passed, Octavia was sure she felt something damp on her scales, something that didn’t just glide off as the rain would, but something that _soaked in,_ even though such a thing shouldn’t have been possible. 

It was then when she realized that Lincoln was crying.

She’d almost forgotten what that felt like.

“I’m sorry for what’s happened to you.” He cried. “Your family just wanted freedom, and instead it was torn apart. No good can come from playing with magical forces like that. What your brother believes is partially true, our people do have a variety of shamans and healers, but no one who wields that kind of power. No one who would give someone their fondest wish and take away their greatest joy like that.”

Octavia couldn’t write anything effectively in the dark like this, so she wrapped her wing over him, holding him close to her.

_It’s not your fault. You don’t have anything to apologize for,_ is what she wanted to say to him. What she needed to say to him. She didn’t know how she’d become so attached to this human in this short of a time, but there was something special about him, something that called to her, deep within her fiery and apparently pure heart.

Though she certainly didn’t _feel_ pure, given what she’d done in the early days of her transformation, laying waste to the legions of Gosci soldiers that had crossed their borders. Yet somehow the magic still bound her.

Lincoln’s tears continued to soak into her side, and they felt incredibly peculiar. She could feel them doing _something_ to her, though she couldn’t tell what. He was - quite literally - getting under her skin, no small feat for a dragon that had layer upon layer of protective scales over that skin.

_I wish I could tell him how he makes me feel._

That thought loose into the universe, and Octavia felt more than just Lincoln’s tears - she felt her skin and scales shifting, wings shrinking away, scales dissolving into smooth skin, her body _contracting contracting contracting,_ and just like that - she was _human_ again.

* * *

Lincoln knew he shouldn’t be bothering Octavia with his own sorrows over her situation, they couldn’t do anything to fix it. Couldn’t do anything to stop her brother. Couldn’t bring her mother back. Couldn’t restore her to a human -

He felt the shudder pass through Octavia’s whole body, the scales beneath his hand shift -

Something was happening.

He moved back, to see what was going on, and her body was changing, shifting through a variety of forms until - there was an ordinary human woman in front of him, about his age, long dark hair and luminous green eyes that shone without the need for light, the same colour that her dragon scales had been.

Okay, perhaps not an _ordinary_ woman. But still as naked as the day she was born and he hurried to pull off his cloak, giving her something to cover herself with.

“What just happened?” She whispered, voice hoarse as she touched a hand to her throat, the idea of speaking something that must have become foreign to her after her years as a dragon. “I… am I human again?”

Lincoln swallowed hard. “Mostly? Your eyes… they aren’t.”

“I still feel the warmth of the dragon’s fire within me.” She said, pressing her hand to her chest. “It’s still there, but - but I can take this form again. How?”

“I don’t know.”

Octavia pressed her hand to her side, and it came away wet - what was left of Lincoln’s tears. “I think it was you.”

“Me?”

“Something about you speaks to me. Draws me to you. Do you feel it too?”

Lincoln thought about it. His comparative lack of fear when it came to entering the cave. Trusting her from the first moment, even though she looked fearsome. How he knew that she’d get him out of that mess with her brother -

“I do.”

Octavia closed the gap between them, running her now-human fingers over his cheek, and he leaned into her touch, closing his eyes as she pressed her lips to his. He deepened the kiss, pulling her into his arms, and as she pressed herself up against him, he could feel the fire that she spoke of, even through his layers of furs.

She pulled back from the kiss, breathing heavy, and slowly pulled the cloak away from herself, laying it out behind her, sitting back on it, eyes firmly on his own. He tried to stop himself from taking in every detail of her body, but she was inviting him to look, encouraging him to come closer.

So he did.

He shed his furs and pulled off his shirt as he moved forward, the chill of the night gliding over his skin, but as soon as he touched her again that chill was gone, as the fire within her spread throughout his body.

Lincoln pulled Octavia into his lap, and she wrapped her legs around him, her bare chest pressed up against his. He kissed his way down her neck, hands skimming over her back, trying to find a place to settle, but he just couldn’t choose a place to do so. He needed to feel all of her.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” She whispered into his ear.

“It would be difficult not to.” He pressed a kiss behind her ear. “This morning I stumbled into the cave of a dragon, and this evening she transformed into a beautiful woman right before my eyes.”

“The dragon is still within me. That means my brother still has power.”

“Let’s not worry about your brother right now.” He bit down lightly on her shoulder, making her gasp and dig her fingers into his biceps. He could feel the fire within her flare, and considered himself lucky that it didn’t burn him.

This was uncharted territory for both of them, and Lincoln knew he could quite literally be playing with fire, but he couldn’t pull himself away. He wanted her, and he could tell that she wanted him too.

“What is it that you want?” He asked, voice low so that it wouldn’t carry. “I want to give you everything I have.”

“I want that too.” She rested their foreheads together, the unnatural light of her eyes illuminating both of their faces. “I feel that the sorceress who cast this curse will come looking for me, to find out how the curse was broken, and before our lives get complicated from that… I want you. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

Their lips met again, and again, tongues clashing as Lincoln moved forwards, resting Octavia back on his cloak, shedding his own pants and hovering over her as she reached for him, her hand slipping around his half-hard cock, weighing it in her hand. She stroked him experimentally and brought him to full hardness as he tried to suppress any moans, not wanting to share this moment with the others in the further reaches of the cave.

Only with her. This moment belonged to them alone.

Before he could press into her, she took him by the shoulders and brought his ear down to her mouth. “I’ve never done this before.” She whispered. “I was a princess before I was turned into a dragon, and I… it wasn’t allowed. Not until after a wedding.”

“But you want to?”

“Yes. More than anything.”

“I’ll be gentle. And if you don’t like something, just say it, and we can do something else.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, taking in her luminous eyes again. “Do you trust me?”

“I do.”

Lincoln kissed his way back down her neck, along her collarbone, and then further down, he flicked his tongue over her nipple, making her gasp. He did the same to the other, and slid his hands down her chest, cradling each of her breasts as he left soft kisses all over them.

He continued his path down, kissing down her stomach, running his hands over her inner thighs as he opened her to him. He felt a nervous tremble pass through her, and her hands came to rest over his as he leaned in, licking over her clit.

She took in a sharp breath as her eyes opened wide. “Oh. _Oh.”_

“A good oh?”

“Yes, Gods above… what was that?”

“The source of a woman’s pleasure.” He took one of her hands in his, and brought her fingertip to run over her clit the same way his tongue had. “Some men are crude and uncaring about a woman’s pleasure, interested only in their own. But a woman’s pleasure is even more important.” He moved their hands further down, slipping one of her fingers along with one of his own between her folds, to stroke around her entrance. “This is usually a man’s goal.”

“Does - does it hurt for a woman? Give no pleasure at all?”

“It can give pleasure, yes. But I understand that it can also hurt, especially if one is scared or nervous. I - I’ve always been gentle.”

“Have you had a lot of lovers?”

Lincoln blushed, though he wasn’t sure if she could see it in the darkness. “I wouldn’t say a lot, but - but my people are different from yours. We don’t have the same strict traditions.”

“When I was a girl, my mother spoke of - of some sort of barrier within a woman, that would hurt terribly when a man broke it with his cock.”

“Some women have that. Some don’t. And you’re not an ordinary woman, we don’t know how it could be for you. How long were you a dragon?”

“I don’t know how long it has been since I fled the castle, but my mother died a year after I was cursed, and my brother kept me locked up for five years after that. Is there, I mean, can you check if - if it’s there? Before it breaks?”

“Of course.” He pressed a kiss to her thigh. “Do you want me to do that now?”

“Yes please.”

Octavia moved her hand aside, and let Lincoln press one of his bigger fingers inside, slowly, feeling for any sort of resistance. He found none.

“Does this hurt?”

“No. It feels nice.”

“Good. That’s how it should be.” He licked over her clit again, as he pumped the finger in and out, feeling her hips move unconsciously to meet him.

“Give me more.” She whispered. “I want to feel more.”

He slipped a second finger into her as she spread her knees open wider, and moved his whole mouth over her clit, alternating between sucking on it and running his tongue deeper between her folds, his two fingers moving inside her.

He knew when he hit the right spot, for the entire area lit up as her eyes went wide, a strong shudder going through her body, her inner walls clenching down on his fingers. He stroked her through it, gently, then pulled his fingers out of her as she regained her breath. 

“Wow.” She panted, chest heaving, a sheen of sweat dripping between her breasts.

Lincoln let her rest and process, sitting back up, stroking his hands over her thighs, waiting until she told him what she wanted next.

He wasn’t expecting for Octavia to surge up to her knees within a minute, moving to straddle him, hand stroking over his cock again. “Do you want to be inside me?” She whispered, nipping at his ear with her teeth.

“More than anything.” He echoed her earlier words.

“Good.” He felt her position herself over his cock, holding it steady with one hand until she pressed herself down onto the head with a moan she stifled against his shoulder.

The heat of her was almost overwhelming, and he fought every urge to just bury himself inside, letting her take her time. Her hands were tight around him, fingernails digging into his shoulder blades, as she moved further and further down, until finally she was flush against him.

She let out a long breath, her forehead sweaty against his neck. “Gods above.” She whispered. “I don’t know how to describe this.”

“You don’t have to.” He assured her, stroking her sweaty hair back from her face. “All that matters is that you like what you’re feeling.”

“I do. Gods, I do. Do you?”

“Very much.”

“Should - should I move?”

“As much as you’re comfortable. No need to rush.”

She nodded, and raised her hips an inch, then back down. He buried his moan into her hair, willing her to do it again. She was so _tight_ around him and he couldn’t think of anything except her movement on his cock.

And how much he already loved this woman, though they hadn’t even met twenty four hours ago. There was no other explanation besides soulmates, souls destined to be together, was there? There couldn’t be.

Octavia started moving in longer strokes, raising herself up further each time before sinking back down again. Soon enough, she was moving far enough that just the tip of his cock remained inside her before she drove herself back down.

“If you want to move, please do.” She whispered, passing control over to him.

He thrust his hips up lightly, bouncing her in his lap, meeting her as she moved back down, and she was unable to stifle the sharp moan that escaped from her lips.

“Oops.” She giggled, pressing her lips to his shoulder, clinging to him as he thrust up into her, over and over again, hands on her hips, moving them to meet his.

Lincoln wrapped his arms around her, lowering them down to the ground, resting her back onto the cloak. He pressed her hips wide as he moved in long and smooth strokes, leaving her almost empty before driving himself back inside.

He thumbed over her clit as he moved, and she came again, clenching around him, which sent him tumbling over the edge as well, his release flooding into her as he collapsed forward, managing to catch himself on his elbows to avoid crushing her.

Octavia ran her hands over his sweaty back, wrapping her legs around his hips, still holding him inside her. “Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Is it too soon to say that I love you?”

“Perhaps if this was a normal situation, but we both know that this is anything but.” Lincoln brushed her hair out of her eyes, giving her a long kiss. “I love you too.”

They stayed like that, trading kisses for awhile, until Octavia finally unhooked her legs, letting him pull out of her, and he curled up behind her, holding her close to his chest.

“I wish we could stay like this forever.” Octavia whispered. “But to avoid too many questions, and to make sure your people stay safe, I need to return to dragon form soon.”

“Probably a good idea, considering you don’t have any clothes.” Lincoln chuckled, kissing her shoulder.

“I hope in the morning you can discreetly speak to some of the women and see if you can acquire something.”

“Won’t be anything you were used to as a princess.”

“I don’t care. I never felt comfortable in the castle anyway. And after it became a prison, I - I liked it even less.”

“It’s all right. You never have to go back to that place.”

Octavia turned around in his arms, her eyes dead serious. “But I do. The only way your people will be safe is if I stop my brother.”

“But you said yourself, you couldn’t harm him, or any of the guards.”

“The power has shifted. I’m not sure if he feels it, if he knows, but I’m definitely feeling it. With the curse broken, the power that bound me - it is no longer grounded in the sorceress’ power, but my own.”

“What do you mean?”

“The castle, my brother, his guard, his armies - they only have the protection that _I_ grant them.”

“You mean to usurp your brother.”

“I hope it doesn’t have to come to that. I hope that he will lay down his arms and make reparations to your people, not just to your village but to all of the free folk he’s terrorized over the years, and return to you your freedom.”

“What do you think the chances of that are?”

“Unfortunately not very good. My brother is unbelievably stubborn. He believes that his way is the only way. But I do have to give him that choice. If not…” She trailed off.

“You mean to kill him?”

“No. I couldn’t. Even after everything, he is still my brother. He is my responsibility. But I also can’t imprison him the way he imprisoned me.”

“That pure heart again?”

She smiled. “Must be. Mother wanted us to make good matches, to secure the future of the kingdom. I can at least fulfill her wish and marry him off to some vapid Gosci princess.”

“I guess she would hate that her daughter fell in love with a barbarian.”

The smile dropped off Octavia’s face. “Don’t call yourself that. That’s not what I believe.”

“But did your mother?”

“Mother envied the independence of the free folk. She thought that if you could exist peacefully, then what need did we have to be a vassal state of Gosci? Couldn’t we be free as well? Gosci had other opinions, of course, which led to the war. They liked keeping us in their thrall to act as a barrier between them and you. I suppose they didn’t want their people to see that it was possible to live without kings and queens and castles.”

“It’s not as romantic as all that. We have our conflicts as well, we have our rulers. We just do it differently is all.”

“My brother hasn’t taken all of your lands? Your rulers remain free?”

“Both inside and outside his conquered lands, yes. Our Commander remains on the outside, and her war chief stays out of sight within, watching your brother and his army’s movements.” Lincoln chuckled. “He caught her once. Tried to marry her, can you believe it? She spat in his face and vanished. She’s been careful not to get caught again.”

“Would you be able to get me a meeting with her? The war chief, I mean. I’m not sure I could meet with the Commander, if I could leave the territory claimed by my brother, up to now I haven’t been able to. I will try, but -”

“I’ll speak to some people in the morning and we can send runners to nearby villages. But I don’t expect it will be needed. She is probably not far away, as your brother was here today. She may even be in this very cave.”

“You don’t know what she looks like?”

“I only know her by reputation. She’s skilled at blending in and disguising herself as needed. She calls herself Echo, for that’s what she must be - someone only to be heard of, rather than seen directly. For the safety of our people.”

Octavia nodded. “Okay. Thank you.” She gave Lincoln a long kiss, and then got to her feet, moving away from him. “Time to turn back. You’ll stay by my side?”

“Always.”

She furrowed her brow, concentrating, drawing on the fire beating within her chest, and within moments, she was a dragon again. Settling into a comfortable position, Lincoln joined her, resting against her side, feeling her heart beat faster as he did. She wrapped her wing over his shoulder, and she felt the beat of his heart too - fast at first as he touched her again and the flame between them sparked, then slowing to a steady pace as he fell asleep, secure by her side.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the songs “Believe” and “My Once Upon A Time” by Shawn Mendes and Dove Cameron from the Descendants movie soundtracks.


End file.
